Commandments of Carrie

I believe in surrounding yourself with things you love, other people don’t have to love it they don’t live in your room! Although there is the occasional pesky husband, wife, significant other… melding styles and opinions can be done! You had the good taste to pick each other, right? We can meld those competing tastes together to pick a sofa for example, I promise you it can be done! Although there have been times I have wanted to resort to duct tape to muffle the sounds of strong opinions from my own family members. But at the end of the day, those strong competing opinions turned out to provide the best solutions, it just took a little longer to get there.;)

I believe you should invest in statement pieces and pepper those with items from Ikea, Target, crazy Aunt Sadie and the thrift store. Every room should have something your husband thought cost way too much money and something you went dumpster diving for… if done well nobody would believe you got that lamp for $8 at Target and I won’t tell if you won’t.

I believe in starting with a vision, an inspiration, a jumping off point; it can be anything really as long as it gets the creative juices flowing. A favorite TV show, a restaurant, a vacation destination, your favorite dress, your daughter’s headband, a piece of fruit… anything!

I believe in mixing styles, mixing old with new, mixing modern with traditional. If you stick to one style it starts to feel like a movie set to me, not like actual people live there. Go ahead, mix Don Draper’s Midcentury Mod sofa with Betsy Johnson’s hot pink baroque style mirror. Find items that you love and make them work in your own space. Your room should make you feel good and bring a smile to your face.

I believe in the power of leopard print, or any animal print for that matter. Let’s just keep it to one animal per room, can we do that?

I believe in mixing patterns and textures, the more the better. It’s like cooking, the more layers of flavors the more exciting the meal. Mix crazy stripes with bold florals and funky ikats, I dare you.;) When I am finished with a room there are at least 10 different fabrics/patterns in there. As I am doing it there are some naysayers yet when it is done it all comes together fabulously, and you feel good in the room, at home. And it doesn’t have to be an in your face Thai Spicy Curry, it can be a mellow Coq au Vin, but it still needs layers.

I believe in the power of stylish sidekicks. Gather opinions! You don’t need to heed in the end, but other stylish people will add to the mix to come up with something truly phenomenal. I am currently auditioning for a gay man sidekick, the only problem is that anyone I like for the part takes offense to the term ‘sidekick.’

I believe in color, paint those walls! Too many of us are scared of strong colors, they can change the way you feel in a room, they can change your life.;)

I believe in black and white. If things are getting too crazy, a bit of black and white can settle things down. They also have the power to make everything else shine again.

I believe in reusing, recycling, repurposing, up cycling, root to tipping, nose to toesing, eyes to earsing, head shoulders knees AND toesing… but at some point that shit just need to go in the trash, people.

I believe in friends and family and that we are more fulfilled when we take the time to make connections with one another. It can be as simple as a conversation with the checkout clerk at the grocery store. These connections make us feel good, make us smile.

I believe almost anything in life can be fixed with some glitter and a glue gun. Seriously.

I believe you should hire me to redesign a room in your home that is not working for you. My astronomer Blaine says I will be famous at the age of 57, you think I jest but he has been right on with all his other predictions, married at 35 check, first child at 36 check, 2nd between the ages of 38-41 check, a boy and a girl check… I don’t really want to wait until the age of 57 to be famous, but they say things happen when you are ready for them. That age is creeping up and with that my rates will go up. So hire me now, you will be getting a bargain, much like that lamp from Target.